There is a rope ladder hanging over the side of a ship. Each of the rungs of the ladder are a meter apart. The tide rises at the rate of 80 centimeters an hour. How many rungs are covered after four hours?

Last edited by capstinence on Mon May 16, 2005 2:34 pm; edited 1 time in total

I have looked at this several times and I finally got the right answer (not posted b.c I donít want to ruin the suspense). This is clever but very strait forward.
Next time someone asks for more details, even if they aren't relevant to finding the answer, it would be a good technique just to make up the details. Word problems are great when you have to decipher the relevant data.

Also - Forum postings should have spell check, engineers - specifically me - are not able to spell.

Perhaps I have a warped sense of humour, but I find this a hysterical question. I sailed into Nassau Harbour this morning with three cruise ships in front of me and two behind me. I've had my first shower in three days and laundry is going. I check in here to see if there is anything that might contribute to dinner tonight and find a buoyancy puzzle.

Since no one else did, I have to do this. The answer, incredible as it may seem, is zero. No more rungs were covered. So many were hung up on a mathematical problem when, in actuality, absolutely NO math is involved. So rung spacing IS totally irrelevant! When the tide comes in the ship rides up with it. And since the ladder is attached to the ship, it rises also. So many couldn't see the problem for what it really was. It was actually quite ingenious! I loved it. "Auspicious" hit when he said buoyancy!